Justin Trudeau production company Hope and Hard Work launches

Former Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau and Katie Telford have launched a production company called Hope and Hard Work at the Toronto International Film Festival, according to CBC, The Globe and Mail and Deadline. The new Canadian outfit will develop scripted and unscripted film, television and other content, marking a move by Trudeau and Telford into entertainment development.

The company begins with two early projects already identified: adaptations of Perry Chafe's Closer by Sea and Uzma Jalaluddin's Detective Aunty, according to the three outlets. Trudeau and Telford are executive producers on those projects. With TIFF running September 10-20, the launch also gives the festival a specific Canadian industry story alongside its premieres and other market activity.

Hope and Hard Work starts with a broad development remit

CBC, The Globe and Mail and Deadline describe Hope and Hard Work as a Canadian production company that will develop scripted and unscripted film, television and other content. That wording establishes a broad remit at launch. The company is not being presented only as a film producer or only as a television producer, and its plans include both scripted and unscripted work.

What has been announced is a development company and its initial areas of work, not a schedule of finished releases. The reports do not give release dates for the first projects, and no additional titles beyond Closer by Sea and Detective Aunty are identified. For now, the company's scope and those two adaptations are the concrete details of its opening slate.

The phrase "other content" broadens the stated remit beyond film and television, but the reports do not identify further formats. That leaves the company's launch deliberately open-ended while still giving audiences and industry observers two named projects to track. It is a case where the ambition is broad but the announced project list remains concise.

Closer by Sea and Detective Aunty lead the early slate

The first projects attached to Hope and Hard Work are adaptations of Perry Chafe's Closer by Sea and Uzma Jalaluddin's Detective Aunty, according to CBC, The Globe and Mail and Deadline. The two titles make adaptation the clearest visible feature of the company's first announced work.

Trudeau and Telford are serving as executive producers on both projects, the outlets report. Their involvement therefore goes beyond putting their names on the company itself: they have defined roles on the first two adaptations. The reports do not state when either project will enter production or when either could reach audiences.

That distinction is important because an announced adaptation remains a development project until further production details emerge. Nothing in the current reporting establishes a premiere date, a broadcaster or a release platform for either title. The information available today is narrower: two literary works have been selected for adaptation, and the company's founders are attached as executive producers.

TIFF gives the launch a distinctly Canadian setting

Hope and Hard Work was launched at TIFF, placing the announcement inside a festival that runs from September 10 through September 20, according to CBC and The Hollywood Reporter. TIFF opened with Sian Heder's disability-rights biopic Being Heumann, starring Ruth Madeley, and the festival's broader program includes local premieres and industry market activity.

The Canadian focus is especially relevant to Hope and Hard Work because the company itself is Canadian. CBC and The Hollywood Reporter describe a festival environment that includes Canadian talent and cross-border production talk, giving the launch a clear local setting for audiences in Canada while also making it relevant to the wider North American entertainment business.

The announcement therefore sits alongside, rather than apart from, TIFF's industry activity. It is not a film premiere, but it concerns the development of film, television and other content and introduces two adaptation projects during a festival already hosting market activity. That makes Toronto more than a backdrop to the story: it is the place where the company chose to enter the public entertainment conversation.

Trudeau and Telford take on entertainment roles

CBC, The Globe and Mail and Deadline identify Trudeau as a former prime minister and Telford as his longtime political adviser. Hope and Hard Work places both in a new professional context, with their first announced entertainment roles tied to the development company and to executive-producing Closer by Sea and Detective Aunty.

The reporting does not assign the company a political theme, and the two announced adaptations should not be treated as evidence of one. The stated mandate is to develop scripted and unscripted film, television and other content. Beyond that, no narrower editorial or creative mission is identified in the reports.

That makes the first projects particularly important in understanding the launch. Rather than describing the company through assumptions based on its founders' previous careers, the available information points to the work actually announced: two book adaptations, executive-producing roles for Trudeau and Telford, and a wider plan to develop content across multiple categories.

A Canadian launch with North American relevance

For readers in the United States and Canada, the company enters view during a TIFF edition that includes industry market activity and discussion around cross-border production, according to CBC and The Hollywood Reporter. The reports do not identify a US partner or an American platform for Hope and Hard Work, so its North American relevance should not be turned into a specific US business relationship.

What is clear is the Canadian foundation of the venture and the setting of its launch. Hope and Hard Work is a Canadian production company, Trudeau is a former Canadian prime minister, Telford was his longtime political adviser, and the announcement was made at Toronto's film festival. Those facts give the story a strong Canadian center even as TIFF draws attention across the continent.

The two adaptations are also the most concrete measure of what comes next. Until more projects are announced, Closer by Sea and Detective Aunty define the company's early slate. Their progress will show how Hope and Hard Work turns its broad development remit into individual film or television projects.

What happens next

TIFF continues through September 20, according to CBC and The Hollywood Reporter, so the company launch lands near the beginning of the festival's 2026 run. No production dates or release dates have been reported for the two adaptations, leaving their development as the next part of the story to watch.

For now, the confirmed picture is straightforward: Justin Trudeau and Katie Telford have launched Hope and Hard Work, a Canadian production company developing scripted and unscripted film, television and other content. Its first announced projects are adaptations of Perry Chafe's Closer by Sea and Uzma Jalaluddin's Detective Aunty, with Trudeau and Telford serving as executive producers, according to CBC, The Globe and Mail and Deadline.

Frequently asked questions

What is Justin Trudeau's production company called?

Justin Trudeau and Katie Telford have launched a Canadian production company called Hope and Hard Work, according to CBC, The Globe and Mail and Deadline. It will develop scripted and unscripted film, television and other content.

What projects is Hope and Hard Work developing?

CBC, The Globe and Mail and Deadline report that early projects include adaptations of Perry Chafe's Closer by Sea and Uzma Jalaluddin's Detective Aunty. Trudeau and Telford are executive producers on both projects.

Did Justin Trudeau launch the production company at TIFF?

Yes. CBC, The Globe and Mail and Deadline report that Trudeau and Katie Telford launched Hope and Hard Work at the Toronto International Film Festival.

What role do Justin Trudeau and Katie Telford have at Hope and Hard Work?

Trudeau and Telford launched the company together and are executive producers on its first two announced adaptation projects, according to CBC, The Globe and Mail and Deadline. The company plans to develop scripted and unscripted film, television and other content.